Public Relations Triumph

The first class aroused my curiosity enough for me to plunge into the complexities and contradictions of 'war' and 'spin' . And I found myself discovering and unmasking things which were otherwise beyond my comprehension.

The much talked about PR stunt of selling of America on the Persian Gulf War grabbed my attention. Hill and Knowlton very cunningly crafted a version of the war ,which turned tables around. What is even more interesting was , this stunt did not hold the position of a pioneer. Edward Bernays had done something on the same lines in Guatemala 40 years ago. No wonder he knew everything about Iraq without being a part of any of it. The century old Bernays was able to read between the lines and recognize the media machinations instantly.

I learned that,after his demise , Bernays had made all his papers available for exploration with the Library of Congress.Though I have not managed to lay my hands on them but have learnt that most of the policies were founded on deception.Whatever happened to ethical PR !

Following his footsteps , I believe Hill and Knowlton also did not have very sound ethical ground when they contended a campaign against Saddam Hussein. It's apparently referred to as a triumphant moment , but I would refer to it as a derogatory moment in the history of Public Relations.
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PR for WAR ?

War as I understand is a actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political or cultural communities. In my opinion its an unnecessary and violent way of getting things agreed upon. One argument I was never able to justify was why to do PR for an ugly and brutal enterprise like war ?

The class excercise was an perfect way to get me thinking about it.Placing ourselves in the responsible shoes of Head of Communications of the Ministry of Defense , forced me to think with a different perspective.I was quite amused with the kind of strategies my mind and my fellow minds came up with.

Exaggerate the threat !
Dehumanise the enemy !
We are hero's , they are villain's !
War is indispensable , its an act of national defense !
We are making the world a safer place !

These are few of the ideas which we came up with and I acknowledge they were brilliant in ways more than one.After all we are all PR pundits in the making. But , here we are taking about war. It might be good for a few of those who are cultivating it , but what about the agony it brings to most of the innocent souls.

Would you not hear the faint voice of conscience when you are spinning war ? I always thought I would , but after this lecture ....Its questionable !
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